American film, television, and stage actress and director Sarah Paulson began her acting career in New York City stage productions before starring in the short-lived television series American Gothic (1995–1996) and Jack & Jill (1999–2001). Her other television work includes Deadwood (2005), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007), and Cupid (2009). In 2011, Paulson began starring in the FX anthology series American Horror Story, playing various characters over many of the show's 11 seasons. For her performances in the series, she received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Critics' Choice Television Awards. In 2016, she portrayed real life prosecutor Marcia Clark in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, for which she earned a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 2020, Paulson appeared in the FX miniseries Mrs. America, and began starring as Nurse Mildred Ratched in the Netflix psychological thriller series Ratched. In 2021, she returned to American Crime Story to portray Linda Tripp in the third season of the series, subtitled Impeachment.
Paulson's film roles include the romantic comedies What Women Want (2000) and Down with Love (2003), and the dramas Path to War (2002) and The Notorious Bettie Page (2005). In 2008, she starred as Ellen Dolan in the superhero noir film The Spirit. She starred as Lucy in the independent drama film Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), Nicolle Wallace in the political drama film Game Change (2012), Mary Epps in the historical drama film 12 Years a Slave (2013), Abby Gerhard in the romantic drama film Carol (2015), Toni Bradlee in the political drama film The Post (2017), Tammy in the heist comedy film Ocean's 8 (2018), Jessica Hayes in the post-apocalyptic thriller film Bird Box (2018), Ellie Staple in the superhero film Glass (2019), and Diane Sherman in the psychological thriller film Run (2020).